There are loads of great camping spots around Bellingham, Larabee state Park is one of the closest camping spots to town. It is just a few miles down the beautiful, scenic Chuckanut drive. There is camping out in the San Juan Islands, one of my favorite spots is on Lopez Island, right along the coast. The North Cascades are not far away and Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest has some excellent camp spots. I really like the Silver Fir campground on the Nooksack River on the road to Mt Baker.
But the inspiration for this post was the how of camping. Some do it in tents, some RV's. I once had a beautiful old VW van complete with camper package, skylights and an opening sunroof. It was a lot like this one picture here to the left. I drove it cross country and lived in it one winter in the Southeast when I was itinerant tree-planter travelling from site to site from Florida up the Eastern Part of the country to Maryland. Remember those vans lots of fun.
Well guess what, they are coming back Green, A Montreal-based comp[any, Verdier has redesigned the iconic Volkswagen camper van, into a modern-day RV, with a hybrid gas-electric engine to power it on the road and solar panels on the roof to power all the gadgets you need to operate while parked. It also comes outfitted with other features of a standard RV: doors that unfold into storage shelves, storage units that fold out into cooking ranges, couches that turn into beds and passenger seats that turn into stairs that lead up to said beds.
There will be a small amount of them and they will be expensive, but a good start towards the greener RV of the future.
Old VW courtesy of Flick By helena.40proof
Chuck: Catch you on the road
Monika: How green is you RV
Michael-
How funny! I love how it unfolds into layers! I might have to take a look... I'm not into RVs, though I have enough friends who are. :-)
Thanks for sharing!
~Emily
The San Diego Real Estate Expert
Emily: Your welcome, Thanks for stopping by
David: Yes I did have to have the engine in tha old van replaced. Sounds like you had one too.
Bill: Go Green
Michael - the old hippiemobile makes a comeback as a green machine. you gotta love it. If it would only run on patchouli oil. Thanks also for your great comment on our seer piece. Had fun with that one.
cheers
Hi Michael - I love this! Your post caught my eye because our engineering department is furiously working on a solar panel design specifically designed for EggCamper, a made in the USA product. While the EggCamper doesn't come with a hybrid engine, you can pull it with your hybrid car. It is designed very efficiently to require minimal electric. Contractors Building Supply is currently designing a solar panel system that will handle the electric load and make energy while traveling or camping! The final assembly is being done in Grandville, Michigan with most of the parts coming from Northern Indiana. Check it out! The nice thing is, unlike an RV, you can detach it from your hybrid SUV so you can travel the country where you are camping! I guess I should get a blog written about them, huh?
In the meantime! Check it out! Great Post! I love the old VW's!
Chuck: Where they talking about this particular vehicle? Wonder why it's not "green"
Mary: Go for it write it up
Michael non inparticular...they were just talking in general about not having any real standards in writing...I thought it was funny becasue when I came to work and got on active rain...their was a Realtor claiming herself to be a "green Realtor" hehehe
Mary when and where can I get an egg to pull behind my truck...saw the pictures....fantastic...and so light....I hope I don't forget it is back there...
False Advertising of any kind is a hot topic for me right now. It's incredible and appalling how some agents that are clueless when it comes to Short Sales boast of hundreds of transactions and high closing ratios - neither metric being supported by the MLS.